A Reaction to “Discourse, Response, and Democracy”
By Jenny Henneberry
The words of President Fox that were once most clearly burned in my mind are those that concluded my first-year orientation. On a cool summer evening, I found myself within a circle of hundreds of my new peers – our faces each illuminated by the warm glow of the flames we ceremoniously nurtured between our palms. In this moment, President Fox invited each of us to carry on the Laurentian legacy of candles in the deep dark North Country woods. When the smoke cleared from our extinguished flames, I felt as though I had found a “forever home” here.
Today, a fire roars on in the North Country woods, only now, it cannot be smothered. The beautiful words that were once the first thought in my mind each time I heard President Fox’s name have been buried deep beneath his most recent public statement. I am physically sickened by his attempt to reduce the very public and massive call to action against the current and historical rape culture on this campus, and this country at large, to a “partisan” matter of “political philosophy.”
Spread far and wide like wildfire, Laurentians who once held a candle in these woods have now lit a blaze much bigger than our own little individual flames.
United by our common experiences and moral motivations, over a thousand St. Lawrence students, alumni and faculty members have used their education here to respectfully and intelligently petition the 2017 honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree awarded to Sen. Susan Collins ’75.
We asked President Fox to rescind this award not as a matter of political positioning, but rather to show support and recognition for the countless survivors of sexual assault who saw themselves in Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. We turned sleepless nights and aimless anxiety-ridden thoughts into an articulate request for action. We asked for the opportunity to reclaim the name of our university and assert to the national audience that we were listening and we believe.
We believe because we know the pain of truth. We know sexual assault is not some myth that lives in the darkness of fairy tales and ghost stories. Rape culture is a fact that permeates this collection of candles in the woods. This is a reality for countless Laurentians and faculty alike. It is not made real by the opinions of any political or governmental body, nor the circular avoidance of the topic at large by President Fox.
The 1944 “world of pain and fracture” described in his statement is the modern world many survivors face every day, with or without the belief of others.
President Fox firmly asserted Sen. Collins’ degree would not be rescinded for the reason that this has never before been done. To point to the “long history” of St. Lawrence University as a justification for inaction is simply inadequate. If we, as a nation, looked to history every time we acted in the present, we would be a nation without civil rights, women’s rights or human rights.
As an educational institution that is driven by the continued growth and innovation of its’ students, St. Lawrence should take action not looking backward but leading forward.
We must push into the future with bravery modeled after the unparalled courage of Dr. Ford. We cannot cower to political power, for it bears no weight without the foundation of humanity.
We reject the merit of Sen. Susan Collins’ honorary degree from this university because pain is not political. In Sen. Collins, we do not see a person who upholds the fundamental qualities of integrity, advocacy and humanity that are so critical to the Laurentian legacy. Her actions and statements discrediting the experience of survivor Dr. Ford, and thereby aiding in the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, disgrace and discredit survivors and this institution.
The implications of Sen. Collins’ actions are a form of silencing that many survivors on this campus know all too well.
Despite clear and considered calls to take action against the continuance of rape culture, not a word in this public statement was spoken on the matter. This silence is evidence of rape culture at St. Lawrence University. It is often invisible to the naked eye, but it takes up space in the gaps that cannot be filled by the excuses of university officials.
We recognize it in President Fox’s blatant avoidance of mentioning sexual assault or supporting survivors. Instead, he defends “the right and the opportunity of all Laurentians” and laments about democracy and “highly energetic” student organizations while reminding his audience that St. Lawrence is a place that many call home.
I have never before so deeply loved and passionately hated any place in my life as I do the campus of St. Lawrence University, and I know this has not been my experience alone.
It is here I have found my voice and my purpose, enriched by a complex and diverse higher education. But it is also here that I have been forced to become my own advocate and acknowledge the legitimacy in the pain I have experienced.
It is on this campus that a silent majority of women have been victimized and institutionally silenced.
The education received by many on this campus was and is invaluable, but for some it has been stained by their experiences with sexual assault. These experiences are real, and so is the pain it causes. It cramped up in our guts when we watched Dr. Ford’s testimony, and it bubbled up in the backs of our throats when we read President Fox’s response. Our pain is not real because anybody believes or defends us, but rather, because it is the truth.
During this dark time, I will stand with you, our fires ablaze in these North Country woods, until the rest of the world sees the light.